The present invention relates to the field of physical or chemical processes and the separation of gasses, vapors, and liquids, more specifically, an apparatus that separates paraffin from triethylene glycol.
Raw natural gas is generally saturated with water vapor that needs to be removed in order to further process or sell natural gas. The process is referred to in this disclosure as natural gas dehydration. The traditional natural gas dehydration system passes the natural gas through a bath of triethylene glycol in a device called a contactor 131. Because triethylene glycol (TEG 130) has a significantly higher affinity for water than raw natural gas the TEG 130 will capture water vapor from the natural gas thereby dehydrating the natural gas.
In order to maintain the efficiency of a natural gas dehydration system, the water accumulated in the TEG 130 must be removed in order to prevent the TEG 130 from being saturated. In the traditional dehydration system, water is removed from the TEG 130 using a reboiler 132. The reboiler 132 heats the water laden TEG 130 to a temperature sufficient to drive the captured water from the TEG 130 thus allowing the TEG 130 to be reused. This dehydrated TEG 130 is then processed through a first heat exchanger 133 which cools the TEG 130 by capturing heat from the TEG 130 and reprocessing the heat elsewhere within the natural gas dehydration system. Once the dehydrated TEG 130 is cooled it is returned to the contactor 131 for reuse
One of the waste products of processing water laden TEG 130 through a reboiler 132 as described in this background is paraffin 134. Paraffin 134 is a wax like substance that has no affinity for water, damages the equipment used in the natural gas dehydration system, and wastes TEG 130. Clearly, a method to remove paraffin 134 from the dehydrated TEG 130 would benefit the natural gas processor community.